Regents to vote Thursday on closure of CU-Boulder journalism school

What: A special meeting of the University of Colorado's Board of Regents on whether to close the School of Journalism and Mass Communication

When: 1 p.m. Thursday. Public comment will be taken from 1 to 1:30 p.m. The board will then likely discuss and vote on whether the journalism school should shut down.

Where: East Campus Research Park, 4001 Discovery Drive, Boulder

Weston Gentry chose to pursue his master's degree in newsgathering from the University of Colorado's journalism school, over Northwestern University and the University of Kansas.

Attending CU made the most sense because his wife works in Denver, and he was impressed when he sat in on a CU class taught by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jim Sheeler.

But now, one year into the two-year program -- and $10,000 to $15,000 in student-loan debt -- Gentry says this isn't the program he signed up for, as the traditional journalism school faces closure and the master's program may lose its accreditation.

"I am going to finish out the next couple of weeks here, hope for the best and then re-assess," Gentry said.

On Thursday, the Board of Regents is scheduled to vote whether to close the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. It would be the first school in the university's history to shut down.

Advertisement

A national accrediting committee also meets April 29-30 to make a final decision on the master's program in newsgathering.

CU President Bruce Benson is backing the recommendation of Boulder campus leaders that the journalism school be closed -- and he's suggesting it be shut down by June 30.

University leaders are proposing a "Journalism Plus" program that calls for CU to drop journalism as a standalone bachelor's degree. Students would be able to pursue a double major in journalism and another subject, or they would be able to major in a subject with a certificate or minor in journalism.

The regents discussed the closure recommendation last week, and it's likely that they'll have a majority to approve the closure. But "no" votes may come from regents Sue Sharkey, R-Windsor, Joe Neguse, D-Boulder, and Monisha Merchant, D-Lakewood.

Jim Geddes, R-Sedalia, said Wednesday he's still undecided.

"I'm not normally wishy-washy, but this is an important decision for the university," he said.

'Not what we signed up for'

Gentry is among 60-some master's students in CU's School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Within his first week of the program, the university announced that the school would go through a "discontinuance" process. Sheeler -- whose journalistic talents had inspired Gentry -- had taken a job at Case Western Reserve University, where he was granted tenure, a job protection that wasn't given to him while at CU. And then an accrediting committee recommended that the master's program lose its accreditation.

"I would have never come to an unaccredited program," said Gentry, who would like to pursue a career in faith and religion reporting. "It's not what we signed up for."

The journalism school's accreditation is in the middle stage of a three-step process.

An on-site team recommended provisional re-accreditation for both the undergraduate and master's program but found problems with the "administration" category because of weak leadership and faculty disputes that prompted the university leadership to get involved.

A second committee that met in late March supported the recommendation of provisional re-accreditation for the undergraduate program, but it recommended that the master's newsgathering program lose its accreditation because it didn't meet three of the nine criteria. In addition to the "administration" category, the master's program was also found out of compliance in terms of "diversity" and "assessment."

The author of the on-site accrediting report said some of those problems are easily fixable, though, and CU is arguing that it should receive provisional reaccreditation for the master's program as well.

A letter to the accrediting body, signed by journalism school Dean Paul Voakes and CU Provost Russell Moore, addresses the diversity component. About 7 percent of the newsgathering program is made up of minority students, which is higher than the 1 percent implied in the site team's report, according to the letter. And the site team found there was insufficient emphasis of diversity-related topics in master's classes. But the school has already worked with a consultant that is detailing how courses could be strengthened to give more attention to diversity, according to the letter.

CU was also found non-compliant with "assessment" -- meaning the school hasn't established a system of measuring whether newsgathering students are learning professional skills appropriate to the master's level.

"Our placement record is outstanding," the letter says. "Our master's certificate in Environmental Journalism, typically undertaken by about one-third of our Master's Newsgathering students, is unlike any advanced-reporting program in the country."

In an interview, Voakes said that if the master's program loses accreditation, it could be regained as early as 2014.

"It's not a forever decision," he said.

And the university will continue to strengthen and improve its program, Voakes said.

Erin Garrett moved from Texas to enroll in the master's newsgathering program at CU and is midway through the sequence.

Just a couple of days before the announcement that the program might lose its accreditation, she renewed her lease in Boulder. And she's saddled with about $50,000 in student-loan debt.

She's uncertain about her plans next year but said she's been searching for other master's programs -- only to learn that many of her credits wouldn't transfer.

MacIntyre feels Colorado is capable of making run at bowl gameCU BUFFS FALL CAMPWhen: 29 practices beginning Wednesday morning 8:30-11 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday practices are open to the media and public next week. Full Story

It didn't take long for Denver music observers to notice Plume Varia. Husband and wife Shon and Cherie Cobbs formed the band only two years ago, but after about a year they started finding themselves on best-of lists and playing the scene's top venues. Full Story